Went Monday evening to see what I could get into on the dam. I started working 30'-15' of water, 47-49 degrees. Couldn't target any fish on my electronics. With about 30 min left of light I moved out into 70'-50' of water and immediately started marking fish that looked like crappie. Lines of fish about a foot off of bottom, Lines about 15' from bottom and fish sitting around 39'-50'. I could be insane thinking this, but can anyone with experience tell me if crappie drop THAT DEEP?

Thanks, Yeti

I've caught Crappie this winter in 45 FOW. It's not uncommon.

The state record largemouth bass was caught on Lake Fork in 40 plus ft of water while the guy was crappie fishing!!!

Well I'm going to have to up my weight class to fish at that depth for sure. It took WAY too long to get my jigs at that deep. I will be going back. Any recommendations on colors at that depth (especially in the evenings)(and jig size as well)?

I have caught crappie as deep as 65' on Lake Fork. Odds are good crappie are deep at the dam this time of year.

Good Luck!

I've also caught crappie here on Fork in 56 fow when the surface temp was 47.
1/4 oz jig & any color you'd use in 35 fow will work, but I'd give black/chart a try

Good to know

While fishing for stripers on Lake Texoma, I coulda swore I marked crappie that deep.
So I dropped a jig down and sure enough, big black crappie.
When it came up from that depth, it looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Total Recall... eyes bulging out.

You got any walleye gear laying around? If so, use it...I would use a double drop line
...unpainted lead head jigs: 3/8 on bottom and 1/4 a foot or so up and normal night time colors....

A few years ago I spent (wasted) a week looking into how fish see colors at depth in differing types of water. The thing that stood out to me, was that fish could see lead better at any depth or water clarity than any other color (whether they bite it better or not, I cant answer as it's above my pay grade). Interestingly, the darker colors seemed to be the ones seen better at depth: black, purple, blue, grays....where as the bright/shiny colors lost visibility after as little as 10 feet, in all but the clearest water.

Personally, I dont fish that deep much, but when I do...I like to use vibration to offset the lack of visibility. Use a bladed jig head and add a blade on the line above your tie as well.

Hope this information helps...Keep us informed on how your deep water excursion works out!